Champions Cup preview: Meet the opposition

After that a trip to Glasgow awaits for Leo Cullen’s men on 21st October, before back-to-back games against the English champions, Exeter Chiefs, in December.

Ahead of this season’s competition, read about our three pool opponents to find out how they got on in the Champions Cup last season, who their star men are, and how they’re performing so far this season.

Exeter Chiefs

Exeter Chiefs made history last season when they won their first ever Premiership title to become champions of England.

Exeter won promotion to the Premiership for the first time in 2010 and have stayed there since, finishing as runners-up in 2016 and winners in 2017.

Exeter finished third in Champions Cup Pool 5 last season against Ulster, Bordeaux-Begles, and eventual Champions Cup runners-up, Clermont. They won two games from six, but claimed two try bonus points and two losing bonus points to finish on 12 points.

Players

Exeter’s prolific winger Jack Nowell was selected for the Lions this year, playing four games and scoring two tries on the tour.

Thomas Waldrom regularly finishes at the top end of the Premiership’s try scoring charts for the Chiefs. Last season the back rower scored nine tries in the league and the season before that was the overall top try scorer with 13.

The Exeter squad includes several more players capped at international level, such as Michele Campagnaro (Italy), Henry Slade (England) and Lachlan Turner (Australia).

This season

Exeter have made a strong start to the defence of their Premiership title with four wins from six games putting them second in the table one point behind Saracens. Their two defeats so far have come away from home against Gloucester on the opening weekend and to Leicester Tigers.

Gregor Townsend finished as head coach at the end of the season to take up the same role with Scotland, and has been replaced by former Chiefs coach Dave Rennie.

Rennie joined the Chiefs in 2012 and won a Super Rugby title in his first season. This was followed by a second title in 2013.

Players

Three Glasgow Warriors players, Finn Russell, Tommy Seymour and Stuart Hogg, featured for the Lions in the tour to New Zealand this year. Seymour played in four games scoring three tries, Hogg had to withdraw due to injury after two appearances on his second tour, and Russell made one appearance after being called up as injury cover.

Glasgow have also signed a number of players from Super Rugby clubs, and have brought scrum-half Nikola Matawalu back into the squad after two season in the English Premiership.

This season

Under new head coach Rennie Glasgow have gone unbeaten in their opening six games in this season’s Guinness PRO14, conceding fewer points than any other team (98).

The run of six wins in the Championship includes an opening weekend win away to Connacht and impressive 37-10 victory over Munster at Scotstoun.

Glasgow lead PRO14 Conference ‘A’ with 28 points, the best record so far in either conference.

Montpellier

Last season

Leinster and Montpellier were drawn together in Champions Cup Pool 4 last season, along with Northampton Saints and Castres Olympique. Montpellier won three games and lost three, missing out on a best runner-up place in the quarter-finals on points difference behind Toulon.

Montpellier finished third in the TOP 14 table at the end of the regular season, earning a home quarter-final against Racing 92 which they lost 13-22.

Players

Montpellier recruited extensively in the off-season, most notably bringing in Ruan Pienaar from Ulster, along with 50-cap All Blacks out-half Aaron Cruden.

Montpellier have also brought in France international Louis Picamoles (65 caps) from Northampton Saints and Julien Bardy from Clermont Auvergne to add to a squad that already includes South African internationals Bismarck and Jannie du Plessis (79 and 70 caps), Francois Steyn (56 caps) and Jan Serfontein (33 caps).

This season

Montpellier have made a strong start to their campaign in France, winning five of their first seven games putting them second in the table on 24 points behind early pacesetters Lyon (27).